"The Son of the Sheik" was a silent film in the 1920's which starred an Arabian Horse named "Jadaan" and the actor Rudolph Valentino. This horse later built his fame by starring in six other films. Prior to the horse's death in 1945 at the age of 29, it had been decided the horse was too worn to go on. He posed once more with Rudolph Valentino and was taken to the University of California of Agriculture at Davis and destroyed on May 29, then used for classroom display. Although it was requested that the horse's skin would be preserved and sent to Cody, Wyoming to be displayed in a museum, this never happened.
Famous actor and explorer Buffalo Bill Cody toured with an Arabian horse, which he named "Muson." He used the steed at his many appearances at Madison Square Garden. The horse was lent to him by his friend Homer Davenport. Buffalo Bill Cody is shown on this horse in a Rosa Bonheur painting.
President Teddy Roosevelt contacted Homer Davenport, who was sent to Syria in search of Arabian horses. He returned with a group of stallions and mares to be bred for the United States Army. Today the United States is the largest breeder of Arabian Horses, somewhere around 588,399 Arabian Horses are registered in the United States. In Syria, only 1,032 are registered.
Celebrities such as Shania Twain and Tom Cruise own Arabian Horses. In addition, the actor Patrick Swayze and his wife have a ranch where they breed and raise Arabian Horses. The famous country singer Tanya Tucker is known for her competition record with Arabian Horses; she has won the National Cutting Horse Association's Celebrity Champion as well as other titles.
Rachel and Robin Bush, who both played the part of Carrie Ingalls on the television series "Little House on the Prairie," spend their time today as avid Arabian Horse trainers.
The Arabian Horse is the oldest purebred in the world, also thought to be the first domesticated breed. Some say it could have been more than 40,000 years ago when the first Arabian Horses appeared, as far as scientists can tell the horse hasn't changed much at all physically. The Arabian Horse has something that many horses don't; it has its own slogan: "The Versatile Arabian." Sometimes Arabians are crossbred with other breeds to produce other colors.
George Washington had two half breed Arabian Horses that he used in the Revolutionary War, their names were "Blueskin" and "Lindsay's Arabian." Many other presidents have been known for the ownership of Arabian Horses, such as Martin Van Buren who was given two Arabians by the Sultan of Oman. Ulysses S. Grant also received two Arabians as gifts from the Sultan of Turkey.
A. Keene Richard, the first American to breed the Arabian Horse in a personal capacity, went into the desert in 1853 and 1856 to obtain horses for his breeding stock. Sadly, the horses were lost in the Civil War and there are no known descendants of his horses.
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